Barcelona have hijacked the Roma move for 21-year-old Bordeaux striker, Malcom and have completed a €41 million (£36.5m/$48m) for him.
The young attacker seemed dead set on moving to Italian club AS Roma, but Barcelona crashed the party and took the striker off Roma’s hands and he is now set to link up with fellow Brazilian, Coutinho in Spain.
Barcelona released a statement on their official website announcing the deal and saying: “FC Barcelona and Girondins de Bordeaux have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Malcom Filipe Silva de Oliveira. The operation will cost 41 million euros and 1 million in variables.
“The player will sign with the club for the next five seasons, until the end of the 2022-23 season.”
Barca added: “Malcom is an attacking player with a great future ahead of him. He stands out due to his electrifying pace and his technique with the ball at his feet.
“Malcom is a daring, pacey forward with an ability to shoot from distance. Despite being left footed, he is no slouch with his right also and can play on either flank.
“He has mainly operated on the right hand side so far in his career to great success, attacking defenders and getting into the box at every opportunity.
“Aside from his speed, he also has great technical ability and links up well with his team mates, one of the main aspects of Barça’s football.”
The Brazilian made 96 appearances for Bordeaux in Ligue 1 and netted 23 goals.
The Brazilian is now Barcelona’s 3rd signing of the transfer window after the Spanish club completed deals for Arthur and Clement Lenglet.
A target that Barcelona failed to land, however, was Naby Keita who claimed that he chose Liverpool over Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
In an interview, Keita said: “It’s true to say that there were other teams involved like the ones you mentioned, (Barcelona, Bayern Munich)
“But a big part of my decision was the role of the coach.
“We had good conversations. The words he spoke to me about this project really convinced me. I could see how the club was developing and I spoke at length with Sadio [Mane].
“Sadio is like a brother to me. We had nine months together at Salzburg and built up a good rapport. We have been great friends since that time. He told me what a great club this was and how the team was progressing and had great potential.”
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